11042 replies to this topic

[rmpeers]

There are A LOT of bike parts lying around on Pandora street. I heard in the DTES they have a market of stolen joke parts where you can go and repurchase your own parts that were stolen. Don’t know if it’s still operating.

Clearly, Victoria is over-policed!

[Mike K.]

Is Seattle the unicorn then? Their two dockless systems, Lime and Jump, were in very good shape at the end of 2019. Not sure how they're faring right this moment, though.

Lime is having problems:

”As we head into the winter season, we have already reduced our operations based on demand,” said Lime spokesman Alex Youn. “We are committed to working with the City of Seattle to create a robust mobility program that includes free-floating scooters and improved bike options beginning in the spring. In the interim, we are removing our bike fleet.”

- https://www.google.c...t-spring/?amp=1

Earlier they cancelled their services in Bellevue.

Jump, from Uber, is now the last one standing and has doubled its prices after the City of Seattle slashed the quota of bikes both Lime and Jump could operate in that city.

[LJ]

Is there someone in town who rents out small electric bikes. I saw a couple of people riding them down Wharf street the other day. They looked like they might be sized to fit in the trunk of a car.

[Victoria Watcher]

there was a place on Oak Bay avenue.

[On the Level]

Lime is having problems:

 

I don't understand this.  You mean the novelty of riding a bike in 8 months of rain a year diminishes over time?  How could have this been predicted!  

 

We obviously need to close parking spaces and then create some sort of dubious air quality study to justify a few bike riding in the pouring rain.

[UserofVic]

I found a YouTube channel called Not Just Bikes that's about how Dutch cities are built and how they solved problems North American cities are facing. The main premise is what makes great cities with it being not just bikes . The guy making these videos is from Toronto and uses it as a common comparison point. Some are directly about bikes, some aren't.

 

Since this is the bike thread we have

Bike Parkades

Biking to Ikea   (Note: There's still lots of car parking

Subtle issues of Copenhagen (Greater Victoria shares many)

An example Amsterdam commute

 

Related to bikes, but also pedestrians and drivers we have

Why stop signs are bad

Continuous Sidewalks

Autoluw, limited car access areas (Relevant to Government Street, also glad nobody's been giving death threats to municipal politicians like 1960's Dutch and Danes did)

Traffic calming

 

And because I don't want to make another post some not bike ones

Cars crashing into buildings

Transit priority (More than induced demand)

Small scale playgrounds good for urban families

 

 

So uh that's most of the videos on the channel, but they're all a look into what could be here if we do the same, and those are the ones directly related to transportation (playground one has a history of converting the space from car use). If you've been lost for years at what the City of Victoria is trying to do with bike plans, these might help show what could be even if you still disagree.

Edited by UserofVic, 19 May 2020 - 03:20 AM.

[Nparker]

I will be interested in the outcome of this BC Human Rights Tribunal hearing

A human rights complaint filed by members of the visually impaired community in Victoria against the City of Victoria and BC Transit, for moving bus stops to the middle of the street to accommodate bike lanes, will proceed to a hearing in August...The complaint alleges the City of Victoria discriminated against the Federation of the Blind by introducing “floating bus stops” between the vehicle lane and the bike lane...

https://www.vicnews....oria-bus-stops/

 

[Jackerbie]

^ Especially given that Victoria is by no means the first municipality in Canada (or BC for that matter) to implement "bus bypass" stops. The province even encourages them. NACTO has a fairly comprehensive set of design guidelines, which the Pandora stops seem to meet. Canada's TAC-ATC likely has design guidelines as well in Chapter 5, but they're behind a paywall.

Edited by Jackerbie, 01 June 2020 - 11:57 AM.

[UserofVic]

I'm not sure I can think of a better design aside from maybe putting some rumble stuff at the crosswalks. There's a bump to force cyclists to notice the crosswalk. Maybe they could add some lights and signals? The video I linked about Copenhagen showed at least one stop that's worse off where the bike path goes right inbetween where the bus stops, and where the waiting area is, meaning anyone getting on or off the bus needs to directly cross the bike path. The Pandora lanes let you off on a little sidewalk instead. The sidewalk down the middle almost makes it like 2 separate roads in a sense. An extra crossing is far from ideal of course, but bikes are far less likely to injury someone than a car is, and crossings are inevitable without grade separation. Has a municipality been taken to court over literally any other form of crosswalk before? I guess they could've put the bike path on the other side of the road like they did on Fort, though that has its own cyclist safety issues where the lanes start/end and cyclists are required to cross the entire road to get into it. Fort has this issue where you're expected to cross from one side of the road to the other if you continue biking past the 2 way part. There's a lot of places in Greater Victoria where bus stops are sandwiched between roads or a road and a parking lot. The stops on the Helmcken overpass seem worse requiring people to cross a slip lane, lacking any signals or traffic calming, instead of a bike path. I don't want to discount the struggles of the visually impaired, but I just don't see how to make a better road design. Perfection is hard to achieve if it's even possible.

 

Also looking at that road safety guidelines, I think the only one Langford's bothered to implement is flashing crosswalk lights, in some places, while just ignoring all pedestrian considerations elsewhere, throwing in the odd token bike lane that's of marginal quality. They "upgraded" Latoria/Happy Valley and it got worse to drive, worse to walk, and worse to bike. They put in a whole 3m of bike lane, no crosswalks, and no sidewalks. There's bus stops along the corners of it too, meaning people will need to cross. Langford can't even be bothered to put in sidewalks with most new development along Latoria, in complete contrast to Colwood which has been putting in buffered bike lanes, sidewalks, and crosswalks. Honestly prefer what Colwood does when I do drive, very much prefer it when I walk or bike. I digress though this is an irrelevant side tangent to the Pandora lanes.

Edited by UserofVic, 01 June 2020 - 01:23 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

E-bikes have gained a foothold abroad. In the Netherlands, roughly 40 per cent of bikes sold last year were electric, according to Dutch industry organizations RAI and BOVAG, while in China they have been a popular replacement for motorcycles for more than a decade.

But Harris sees demand surging in North America: U.S. sales increased by 85 per cent in March, according to the New York Times, while he said Canadian businesses are struggling to keep e-bikes in stock. 

Even so, the possibility of e-bikes becoming commonplace in Canada continues to face significant hurdles. Harris said the federal government currently has insufficient safety standards in place, while Transport Canada proposed dropping all regulation of them in 2018. 

Harris said rules are necessary to regulate the vastly different kinds of e-bikes on the market, including the much larger cargo bikes often used in place of delivery trucks. 

Confusing or contradictory definitions of "e-bike" have led to legal troubles for some riders. In B.C., a Supreme Court judge recently upheld charges against a man who rode an e-bike without insurance, even though the man argued the law doesn't require it. 

 

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...bikes-1.5598801

[Spy Black]

Confusing or contradictory definitions of "e-bike" have led to legal troubles for some riders. In B.C., a Supreme Court judge recently upheld charges against a man who rode an e-bike without insurance, even though the man argued the law doesn't require it. 

 

Those aren't e-bikes, and the Supreme Court, the guy, and the store that sold the scooter to the guy all know that.

A scooter with added pedals that don't work, expressly designed to skirt the e-bike legislation deserves exactly what this guy got - charges.

 

Everybody that purchases one of these scooters does so with the express purpose of skirting the by-law, and engaging in running an electric scooter without insurance, and without a license ... and all on trails and bike lanes otherwise populated with unpowered pedal bikes, proper e-bikes, and pedestrians.

[Victoria Watcher]

i'm not a fan of more laws, but is it odd the place can even sell them?

 

what if i set up a car dealership and i let cash buyers drive off the lot with novelty license plates and no insurance?

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 05 June 2020 - 06:50 AM.

[Spy Black]

The language in the legislation is pretty clear, but like all legislation it contains just enough grey area that those seeking some sort of edge or advantage might think that a crack could be found ... and indeed these folks have found, and then exploited what they think is a crack in the language.

 

The B.C.Supreme Court though, quite clearly told them that the "crack" they think they found in the language of the legislation isn't a crack at all, and that the electric scooters they were trying to fob off as e-bikes were indeed electric scooters, which required a drivers license and insurance in order to operate (and that they couldn't operate in bike lanes or on bike paths).

 

That's why the RCMP have already told the Motorino shop owner that he's selling illegal products, and that if he continues, it's likely that charges will be brought against him. The RCMP threat of charges isn't specifically laid out in the article you linked to, but if you dig around there are much more comprehensive reports on the B.C. Supreme Court finding in this case.

[LJ]

I was looking at getting an e-bike just for fun riding, there was one that you bought online and they shipped it to you and you put it together which was basically installing the handlebars and pedals.

 

I see a few kids riding them around my area, 9-10 years old, minus helmet, going fast, not sure that is the smartest parenting choice.

Edited by LJ, 07 June 2020 - 07:00 PM.

[On the Level]

Those aren't e-bikes, and the Supreme Court, the guy, and the store that sold the scooter to the guy all know that.

A scooter with added pedals that don't work, expressly designed to skirt the e-bike legislation deserves exactly what this guy got - charges.

 

Everybody that purchases one of these scooters does so with the express purpose of skirting the by-law, and engaging in running an electric scooter without insurance, and without a license ... and all on trails and bike lanes otherwise populated with unpowered pedal bikes, proper e-bikes, and pedestrians.

 

Drat!  I just installed fake pedals in my F350.  Oh the humanity!

[DustMagnet]

Drat!  I just installed fake pedals in my F350.  Oh the humanity!

 

It makes sense, most trucks do seem to drive half in the bike lane. 

[mbjj]

According to today's paper, the city is going to spend money (at a time like this!) on more bike lanes incl. Richardson St. Uggg, I'm dreading it. We've got the larger-sized buses going up and down, lots of traffic. I don't see how squeezing traffic into one lane is ever going to work.

[Nparker]

One can only hope the feds determine there's a better use for post-plague stimulus money.

[marks_28]

According to today's paper, the city is going to spend money (at a time like this!) on more bike lanes incl. Richardson St. Uggg, I'm dreading it. We've got the larger-sized buses going up and down, lots of traffic. I don't see how squeezing traffic into one lane is ever going to work.

 

Well, there will be a lot of traffic calming to encourage traffic to use Oak Bay Ave or Fairfield. Will still be open to busses. With less traffic, should be definitely doable with bikes.

[spanky123]

According to today's paper, the city is going to spend money (at a time like this!) on more bike lanes incl. Richardson St. Uggg, I'm dreading it. We've got the larger-sized buses going up and down, lots of traffic. I don't see how squeezing traffic into one lane is ever going to work.

 

The bigger problem is that projects such as these were deferred a few months ago by council in order to apparently free up money to fund revenue shortfalls. It seems though that these projects are slowly being reintroduced without any consideration to the initial premise. The Feds and the Province, it seems folks believe, have an infinite amount of money to spend to bail out the City.